The Coward in Chief
While protesters take to Iranian streets, President Obama remains silent. “It’s not productive given the history of U.S.-Iranian relations to be seen as meddling.” As Iranian young people fight for “hope” and “change” in Iran, the president who rode to power with those slogans remains uncharacteristically silent.
Similarly President Obama has done nothing to deter Kim Jong Il’s provocative acts in North Korea. “... (U)nder no circumstance are we going to allow North Korea to possess nuclear weapons,” Obama says, as North Korea prepares to detonate yet another nuclear warhead. Perhaps he hopes that North Korea will exhaust its nuclear weapons stash by testing instead of turning Seoul, Osaka or Anchorage into glass. Regardless North Korea is merely emboldened as China – it’s benefactor – laughs at Obama’s treasury secretary, confidently knowing that it can do whatever it wants foreign policy-wise because Obama needs it to subsidize his wealth transfer to his cronies. Carter had his own cronies too. Remember Bert Lance?
Those of you younger than 30 may not recognize the pattern, but those of us over that age do. We lived through the Carter Administration, and we saw such handwringing alot as the administration systematically gutted America’s military and backstabbed its friends.
Soon after its election the Carter Administration systematically weakened the Iranian regime of Shah Mohammed Reza Palahvi over alleged human rights abuses, threatening to withhold money and military aid unless the Iranian regime implemented a series of human rights reforms. The Shah’s opponents including the Ayatollah Khomeini benefited from Carter’s meddling, finally overthrowing the regime in 1979. It was a mistake that would eventually lead to Carter’s own downfall, losing to Ronald Reagan by a landslide in Nov. 1980.
President Obama seems to be channeling the zombie-like President Jimmy Carter completely. Not only is he encouraging America’s enemies in Beijing, Moscow, Tehran and Pyongyang, as well as refusing to back “hope” and “change” movements that don’t result in unions owning factories, he is backstabbing America’s only true friend in the Middle East – Israel.
While the Jewish vote went solidly Obama’s way last November, it has not restrained him from publicly hectoring Israel at every turn. Obama may be timid in his approach to America’s enemies, touring the world apologizing for America’s alleged misdeeds, he has no problem slapping around its friends in Israel, the UK and even Canada.
Timidity in the face of one’s enemies, disrespect towards one’s friends… those are the signs of the coward. President Carter showed cowardice in the 1970s and in doing so sowed the seeds that would blossom into the 9-11 terror attacks. History is repeating itself and America will no doubt pay a hefty price for the cowardice of and loathing this president has shown towards the world and his country.
Wake me up when the 1980’s arrive.
UPDATE: Evidently I wasn’t the only one to pick up on the 70’s meme.
I’m also struck by Obama’s fear to offend one of his constituencies over another. His refusal to face down supporters in the socially conservative African-American constituency by pushing for the repeal of the Defense of Marriage Act is yet another instance of Obama’s cowardice. Ditto his refusal to force the military to chuck the don’t-ask don’t-tell policy. I expected Obama to project a weak foreign policy – not a weak domestic agenda.
UPDATE2: Clearly what has happened in Iran has caught the president off guard. The Narrative that rolls up the screen of his teleprompter has him brokering some grand deal in the Middle East between the Mullahs in Iran and the Jews of Israel – not welcoming a bunch of democrats into the fold of civilized nations. Unfortunately History doesn’t follow narratives which is why Jimmy Carter – who viewed his own role in the Middle East similarly- was eventually overwhelmed by events of his term. This failure broke Carter, leaving him to trod the edges of the limelight on the world stage – gathering headlines from sympathetic journalists as he brokered agreements with regimes that evaporated almost as fast as the ink dried.
At this point I fully expect Obama to follow in his patron’s footsteps, serving one term and spending the remainder of his life trying to build the figure in history that the Narrative promised and History failed to deliver.
Watcher of Weasels » Agitator and Agitprop in Chief:
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17 June 2009, 3:02 pmRight Truth:
I thought America stood for freedom and democracy? ...
Following events in Iran closely, I could not help but dwell on the plea of one contact, “I thought America stood for freedom and democracy?” Expressing the desperation of Iranians, he says the “situation is really dire,... appreciate any help…...
17 June 2009, 4:55 pmThe Glittering Eye » Blog Archive » Eye on the Watcher’s Council:
[...] The Razor, “The Coward in Chief” [...]
18 June 2009, 11:12 ammark reardon:
Look at Obama, Think Reagan what comes out? “Mr. Gorbachev, please paint this wall”
19 June 2009, 7:27 amBernie Lashkar E Taiba Kota Kinabalu International Airport:
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2 July 2009, 9:15 am